Over 17,000 AT&T (NYSE: T) workers are on strike across nine U.S. states, reported Fast Company. The strikers have accused the telecom giant of unfair labor practices during contract negotiations that have been ongoing since June.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union said technicians, customer service representatives, and personnel who install, maintain, and support AT&T’s network walked off the job on Friday. The strikers say the action directly responds to AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith. According to the union, AT&T did not send representatives with authority to the negotiation table, and the company retracted agreed-upon measures.
“Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract, but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith,” Richard Honeycutt, vice president of CWA District 3 in the Southeast, said in a statement.
Striking workers are involved in AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
AT&T rebuts CWA’s accusations, saying their claims of “unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact.” In an emailed statement, the company wrote, “We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since Day One and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees.”
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